How do you Starsan your bottles?

Hello All,

Been brewing for awhile now, and have received much helpful advice from this forum. Between this forum and Palmer's "How to Brew" I have learned a lot.

I am wondering how Starsan users sterilize their bottles. For me, I dunk the bottles in a bucket of Starsan solution (1 oz to 5G) until they are full, pull them out and let them sit for about a minute. I then dump the solution back into the bucket and fill the bottles with my bottling wand. There is still a bit of foam and liquid from the starsan when I fill the bottles.

Is this leaving too much Starsan solution in contact with my beer? I know Starsan is supposed to be safe, but I worry that the extra solution may impact the flavor. Is there an alternate method of using Starsan? Would a spritz of solution inside the bottle be enough?

For cleaning my bottles, I have been very thorough in rinsing/shaking the bottles with water 3-4 times immediately after use, so that only sanitation is required.

a couple quick pumps with one of these

and set in on one of these

as soon as I have enough bottles on the tree I start filling them, the foam comes out the bottle when the beer fill it.

Don't feer the foam

I also rinse all my bottles after use and only star san them right before bottling. I do wash ones that i get back from friends though.

Yep, that's exactly what I do too. Bottling has become much easier since Star San + vinator + bottle tree.

I just bought a vinator 2 weeks ago and I've done 2 batches of wine and 3 batches of beer with it now. I wish I had bought that thing ages ago! I'm putting that thing up there with the auto-syphon in terms of bang-for-the-buck convenience.

Mayday99 said:

I am wondering how Starsan users sterilize their bottles. For me, I dunk the bottles in a bucket of Starsan solution (1 oz to 5G) until they are full, pull them out and let them sit for about a minute. I then dump the solution back into the bucket and fill the bottles with my bottling wand. There is still a bit of foam and liquid from the starsan when I fill the bottles.


For cleaning my bottles, I have been very thorough in rinsing/shaking the bottles with water 3-4 times immediately after use, so that only sanitation is required.

Click to expand...

This is basically what I do. The only major difference is I hang my bottles on a bottle tree for an hour or so before filling.

I don't have one of those viniator things. People really seem to like them. Maybe I'll buy one with my tax refund and see how it works.

I used to put the bottle necks through the spaces in the clean, upper tray of my dishwasher. That worked pretty well, as I've never owned a bottle tree.


TL

Thanks all for the replies.

Ordering a bottle tree and Vinator from Northern Brewer today!

I spray the inside of all the bottles using a hand sprayer



then empty the drips out just before filling.

+1 on the vinator and bottle tree! Vinator was cheap and saved a lot of hassle and time.

I place my bottles in a bucket of starsan for 30-45 seconds then dump out and place back in box and cove with plastic wrap. The idea of a no rinse solution is that you do not have to rinse. I can't bring my self to place bottles on a tree because i can't bring myself to insert anything into the bottle after i sanatize. But i also DO NOT FEAR THE FOAM.

vinator was my new best friend

That Vinator is great -- I never knew it had a real name, I always just called it "that magical pump thingy".

I used to soak them in a big bucket full of starsan solution, but this is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH easier. It's one of the best HB-related purchases I've ever made.

I don't have a bottle tree, but I lay the bottles out on a towel and cover the tops with sanitized plastic wrap until it's time to use them.

So, after reading this thread, i went and looked online at the LHBS that i use (though it's seven hours away) and they have three bottle trees available. One 45 count, one 90 count and one compact 45 count. My question is this, the compact one says it's "Does not work with Vinator Bottle Rinser/sanitizer" where as the other two says it does work with the vinator.

I'm providing the link to the product page that has the different models, but i'm curious why one would work and one wouldn't. The only thing i can think of is that the tree itself functions as a vinator, but i'm probably wrong. Anyone have an idea what the difference(s) might be?

The vinator comes with an adapter on the bottom so you can sit it on the top of the bottle tree. Personally I don't do that since I sit the bottle tree on the counter and it's way too high.

bradsul said:

The vinator comes with an adapter on the bottom so you can sit it on the top of the bottle tree. Personally I don't do that since I sit the bottle tree on the counter and it's way too high.

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+1
I only put as many branches on the tree as i will need and set the vinator on the counter.

I dunk my bottles in a bucket of star san and set them my dishwasher to dry- it's worked out pretty well so far.

From the instructions, it is supposed to be dripped dry before the bottles can be used.

Anyways, I am tempted to start using starsan instead of the household bleach. need to rinse the bottles a lot of times before the bleach smell can be removed. not all that keen of rinsing and rinsing..

mrbungeeman17 said:

I place my bottles in a bucket of starsan for 30-45 seconds then dump out and place back in box and cove with plastic wrap. The idea of a no rinse solution is that you do not have to rinse. I can't bring my self to place bottles on a tree because i can't bring myself to insert anything into the bottle after i sanatize. But i also DO NOT FEAR THE FOAM.

Click to expand...

Why not just spray some starsan solution on the tree....

Then its sanitized too.

bottle washer then dishwasher to dry on heat setting